![\"Placeholder\"](\"\/art52\/graphics52\/TribalFusion\/jamilafromgordon69.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
August 16, 1926 – December 8, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cFrom the moment Jamila<\/span> entered the studio, I knew that I was in the presence of someone special. Great teachers are rare. If we are lucky, we will recognize that special person who has the ability to impart special knowledge and change the very course of our life\u2026 I found my \u2018voice\u2019 in dance. This is the gift Jamila gave to me.\u201d \u2013 Yasmela<\/span> , 2007<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n An influential and respected teacher whose techniques and formats have been shared all over the world, the iconic Jamila Salimpour was instrumental in helping mold many big names in American belly dance. <\/p>\n Clad in black and draped in ethnic jewellery and assuit, her face adorned with tribal markings, the charismatic former circus performer and club owner cut a striking figure even in 1960s San Francisco. Her exotic appearance and exacting methods drew many acolytes eager to absorb her teachings. Decades later, dancers still recall her classes with awe.<\/p>\n Jamila is credited as the founder of tribal belly dance, with her creation in 1968 of the influential troupe Bal Anat<\/span>. In recent years her daughter, Suhaila<\/span>, has revived her mother\u2019s original format and teaches it alongside her own in classes worldwide.<\/p>\n Read the late Yasmela\u2019s account <\/a> of her early classes with Jamila, then explore the Gilded Serpent archives for more. <\/p>\n From our archives:<\/p>\n \u201cShe was, and still is one of the most amazing women I have ever had the honor of knowing \u2026 Her classes gave us so much more than just a Belly dance. Jamila, with her wonderful story telling and strong hand as a teacher gave me, and many like me, a new and fantastic feminist life-path that was strong and woman-dominated.\u201d – Rita \u201cRebaba\u201d Alderucci, 2010<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOne day I saw in the campus newspaper an ad for Arabic dance lessons to be given by a retired professional – I answered that ad, met Jamila Salimpour, and changed the whole course of my life! From the moment I walked in, I was caught by the magic. There was incense burning by the front door, there were prints of Bakst’s exotic designs and photographs of Jamila in costume on the walls, an Indian throw on the couch, and that music – that music – filling the living room.\u201d \u2013 Aziza Parker <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cJamila had created the mystic, this tribe to which we could belong. I’m thankful that she gave me a start in all this. I feel that I have continued with this with the creation of Hahbi ‘ru.\u201d John Compton<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n Do you have a special memory of Jamila? Share it in the comments below the list of articles.<\/em><\/p>\n 3-22-00 <\/span> The Beginning Chapter #1<\/a><\/span> by Aziza!<\/span> 7-1-00 <\/span>Jamila and Yousef Chapter #3<\/a><\/span> by Aziza!<\/span> 9-15-00 <\/span> The Music and Musicians, Chapter #4<\/a> by Aziza!<\/span> The Gilded Serpent presents the Stars of North Beach, San Francisco<\/a> 4-11-02 <\/span> The Birth of Bal Anat and Other Adventures Chapter #9 <\/a><\/span>by Aziza!<\/span> 11-3-10<\/span> An Intro to Tribal Fusion<\/a> by Jasmine June<\/span> 9-26-01<\/span> "RETRO-TRIEVING"<\/a><\/span> by Sadira<\/span> Middle Eastern Music and Belly Dance Books, Page 1: 1970-1989<\/a><\/p>\n 5-21-03<\/span> Tribal Bible Reviewed <\/a>by Yasmela<\/span> 10-11-07<\/span> The Jamila Experience<\/a> by Yasmela<\/span> 1-27-12<\/span> "No Path is Straight" Says Anne Lippe, One of the First Westerners to Dance in Egyp<\/a>t by Stasha Vlasuk<\/span> 9-29-00<\/span> My Lessons with Hillary and Aida Al-Adawi<\/a> (part 1) by Satrinya \/ Masalima 10-17-00<\/span> My Lessons with Jamila Salimpour <\/a> (part 2) by Satrinya\/Masalima<\/span> Memorial to John Compton<\/a><\/p>\n 9-4-04 <\/span> My Costuming Roots, Chapter #21<\/a> \n
\n
Articles and information on Gilded Serpent about Jamila Sallimpour<\/h3>\n
When she came out to dance in the audience, I thought to myself, "She better not get too near to my husband!" <\/p>\n
Even though we were recognizably taught by Jamila, we were not the cookie-cutter girls she turned out later.<\/p>\n
\nI was very lucky to have danced to live music almost exclusively throughout my career. <\/p>\n
Scroll horizontally down our hallway…<\/p>\n
\nbelly dance will continue to evolve into things new and strange, limited only by dancers’ imaginations. <\/p>\n
\nSince Tribal Fusion Belly Dance is a relatively new dance form, it is especially important to treat the genre with a level of professionalism, or else one runs the risk of discrediting the work of dancers who have dedicated their lives to creating and elevating Tribal Fusion Belly Dance.<\/p>\n
\nI remember those days back in the ’70s when ethnic stylizing was the only "true" way to dance. Latest addition to our North Beach Memories!<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAnd I suppose to some dancers, it is a way of life. There is repeated emphasis placed on the concepts of bonding, healing, empowering, and connecting throughout the book. From the sound of it, American women are desperate to connect, to be part of a tribe, to belong.<\/p>\n
\nAll of these feelings fled as soon as Jamila walked through the door. A big impressive woman clad entirely in black…<\/p>\n
\nAnne Lippe, a trend-setting costumer, was not only one of the original Western dancers to perform in Egypt, she was also one of the first teachers of Belly dance instructing there as well. Anne started studying Middle Eastern Dance with Jamila Salimpour in San Francisco in1969 and joined dance troupe Bal Anat. <\/p>\n
\n\t\t <\/span>"After only three classes, they would teach belly dancing!"<\/p>\n![\"Jamila](\"\/1art63\/graphics63\/jamilateaches.jpg\")
… would dance instead, without pay.<\/p>\n